Tuesday, March 17, 2009

This is the warming box that Thorny guy made for me. It was much less expensive than the seed warming mats. We have a soil thermometer and the sand in the box is 80-85 degrees. It is working well so far, the eggplants germinated in about 4 days and are fully up in 7.

It consists of a clear storage container with some drainage holes drilled in the bottom. There is a string of clearance Christmas rope lights wrapped around the bottom and caulked in place. The cord comes out the side through a drilled hole. After all the caulk was dry 2 inches of sand was put in the bottom to cover the lights completely, the sand helps hold the heat. The original instructions said to keep the lid on the storage tote but we found that the temperature got very hot (100 degrees or more) with it on. The total came to around $10 for everything, much cheaper than the $40 seed heating mats you see in gardening centers.

Monday, March 16, 2009

The first seeds have sprouted after a week of being planted. The petunias are up and as you can see I did not do a good job off sprinkling them in rows. They are very heavy toward one side.

The eggplants which were in the warming box are up. These are Eggplant Lavender Touch Hybrid. The seeds from last year for Rosa Bianca Eggplant have yet to come up. I am thinking they won't, but here is hoping.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Here is my list of outside todos once things have warmed up a tad. Not all of them will get done but a girl can wish.1) Prune apple/crabapple trees. 2) Remove rest of rock tree circles.3) Rip up grass in rhodie garden. Move grass to cover tree circles.4) Add border, compost, plants to rhodie garden5) Finish ripping up grass/clover in half circle garden.6) Put down path/bench in half circle garden7) Move boxwoods to half circle garden8) Remove rocks from old boxwood garden9) Shape border from old boxwood garden10) Plant old boxwood garden

Thursday, March 12, 2009

What do you do when you are not gardening? Thinking of gardening. The folks found this puzzle of a potting shed in spring. It is helping pass the time until spring actually comes. Currently it is 0 degrees. BRRRRRRRR.

Monday, March 09, 2009

This weekend, we started planting seeds indoors. Looking back on our records, this was the exact same day we started planting them last year. Here is a tray ready for planting.

The soiless mix is coir, perlite, and sand. This year we used less sand as it was too heavy. Coir is a great replacement for peat as it is made up of coconut hull fibers instead of being taken from peat bogs. The mix worked great last year, here is hoping for more happy seedlings.